The Table of Contents

Wow. Thank you, everyone! What a lovely outpouring of support for writing my book. It makes me only slightly less terrified to post the Table of Contents.

There are going to be two different "tracks" in the book--the chronological "this is likely to happen now" track, and the topics for discussion track (including ideas about learning to make decisions as a parent as well as the stuff that crops up as you go along). I had thought of doing two separate sections, but then realized that I'm the kind of person who would just read the chronological section and miss out on the discussions, so maybe it would make more sense to put the discussions in when they're likely to happen, as intercalary chapters.

Here's the outline as it stands right now:

Introduction

Chapter 1: We’re all in this together, separately

• Discussion of the shock of new parents
• Sources of support and protecting yourself from anti-support
• Importance of finding your own method and assessing the usefulness of expert advice

Chapter 2: Problemsolving for Parents

• What are your goals? Make a mission statement for parenting to help guide you through the decisionmaking process
• Principle-based parenting vs. rules-based parenting
• “Safe, respectful, and kind” concept
• How to approach solving specific problems. LIFO approach, FIFO approach, TQM, or low-hanging fruit method.
• Designing your own framework for decision-making in the moment

Chapter 3: Sleep, Crying, and Tension, aka Anti-Chaos Theory

• Discussion of baby sleep and what’s realistic
• Developmental spurts and when babies go through sleep regressions (references to Wonder Weeks and Bed Timing)
• Tension Increasers/Tension Releasers Theory
• Characteristics of Tension Increasers and how to handle them
• Characteristics of Tension Releasers and how to handle them
• Sleep prognosis

Chapter 4: Birth through 12 weeks

• First days
• Days and nights mixed up
• Breastfeeding: When to get help
• Three-week growth spurt
• What do you do all day?
• Six-week growth spurt
• 6-8 weeks is the peak of crying
• Maybe, finally, starting to settle into a routine
• 3-month growth spurt
• Back to work/not back to work

Chapter 5: Worry

• Normal worry vs. unusual worry
• Persistent thoughts
• Worry as Defensive pessimism
• Turn worry to your advantage

Chapter 6: Is it possible that you have PPD? Let’s find out.

• Signs and symptoms of PPD (for moms and dads)
• For people who have PPD, ways to get help now.
• For people who don’t have PPD, ways to keep your system balanced so you’re less likely to get it.
• Stories from people who came through PPD.

Chapter 7: Four months

• Sleep regression!
• Naps are ridiculous, but improving
• Things are getting serious now
• Chapter 8: Anger
• Why anger now?
• Who are you angry at?
• Productive ways to channel your anger
• Allowing yourself to be angry and allowing your child to be angry

Chapter 9: Friendship

• How your pre-baby friendships may change, and the range of emotions associated with that
• Why now is the easiest time to make friends since the first week of college
• Making friends (for people who are going back to work)
• Making friends (for people who will be staying home for awhile)
• Maintaining parent friendships through different decisions
• Don’t make weekends “family time”

Chapter 10: Six months

• What is exactly is going on?
• Sleep transition time: good, bad, or just different
• Is your child flipping days and nights? Or feeding in weird ways?
• What’s the new normal?

Chapter 11: Your body, yourself

• Six months out, and your body still isn’t back to the way it was prepregnancy (probably).
• What’s the prognosis?
• Realistic standards, realistic expectations
• Taking care of your physical health

Chapter 12: The linear notion of time, or what does not exist

• The old normal
• The new normal
• Focus
• Learning from this amorphous phase

Chapter 13: Nine months

• Sleep regression
• Independence/clingy phase
• Increased fear

Chapter 14: Doubt, and who you are now

• Why is nine months so hard for parents?
• Finding where you are in the landscape
• Reality check for your capacity right now
• Realistic timeline for improvement

Chapter 15: One year

• You all made it!
• What happens at one year
• Switching the way you feed your child (if you decide to do so at the one-year mark)
• Beginnings of toddler behavior
• 13-month sleep regression

Chapter 16: Love and sex

• How loving your child affects loving your partner
• Who you are as a romantic partner now
• What about your needs?
• Um, sex

Chapter 17: Young toddler

• Constant busyness
• Opposition
• Exercise, the miracle cure
• Not taking it personally

Chapter 18: Independence

• The beginning of true independence
• Side effects of independence
• Food resistance
• Communication goes both ways, sort of
• Independence for you

Chapter 19: Sleep: Yours

• Are you sleeping through the night?
• How much of your sleep is related to your child’s sleep and how much of it is you?
• Nutritional needs for better sleep
• Other support for your own sleep

Chapter 20: 18 months

• The worst sleep regression yet
• Defiance
• Food refusal times three
• A huge period of growth combined with disequilibrium
• Communication

Chapter 21: Anger, redux

• Why toddlers can tap into your anger so effectively
• Managing your anger
• Thinking about this phase as practice for later phases
• Perspective

Chapter 22: 21 months

• New fluency and cheerfulness
• Communication
• Better sleep

Chapter 23: What’s next?

• Figuring out what’s next for you now that your child is out of the baby and toddler stage
• Who are you as a parent?
• Are you satisfied with your family configuration and workload?
• Making changes

Chapter 24: Two years

• You made it—no longer parenting a baby
• Strong separation anxiety phase
• Maybe thinking about having another, or maybe not
• Oh, and there’s another sleep regression from 24-27 months

Appendix: First, do no harm: Books you can read that won’t gaslight you, websites that won’t make you feel inadequate, and other resources

• Book list
• Website list
• Other resources

 

What am I forgetting?

Comments

[SarahB]

I would include some kind of "your body/yourself" around Chapter 4 as well (or make it part of that chapter). That chapter could also be called "What the heck am I supposed to wear?" at least for the women going back to work. :)

All the standards talk about a 6-8 week recovery period, but no one says how that really feels. And there's the fact that your body is still out of whack at that point. I remember feeling much better...less exhausted, but still exhausted, less fat, but still fat. And then there's the whole issue of boob management.

[Kari]

Love this. Thanks especially for including the part about making friends if you are going back to work. I had a hard time finding information for working moms.

Maybe something specifically about sex and breastfeeding?

[Annika]

I would love to see a chapter about dealing with going through it all a second time, with the addition of an older child--but maybe that is its own book!

[Erin]

This is an ambitious and very much needed project! Thank you for taking it on, I swear I'm gonna buy a copy for every pregnant friend I have once it's published. You are the best! And congrats! I think this is going to lead to exciting things for you. :)

[Megan]

I agree w/Erin! I will be handing out copies to all my pregnant friends. Your blog was such a huge help to me when my son was going through sleep regressions and separation anxiety.

[Moxie]

Annika, definitely a second book!

SarahB, yes about the body stuff. I feel like "9 months in/9 months out" doesn't really sum it up effectively.

Kari, yes. The going back to work stuff all seems to be about the logistics, too, not about the isolation.

Thank you all!

[MakingItWork82]

I don't have any suggestions for things to include, but I'm having a rough time with my 17 month old right now and found myself looking through your TOC for this age and wishing I could read the book right now! ;)

[Anon]

I haven't thought through what else I'd expect to see in a focused way, but I think this is a great start. I have 2 pieces of feedback: 1) It's not clear to me why chapters 23 & 24 are separate, esp the first bullet points for both seem pretty much the same. Either differentiate better or combine. 2) Food refusal comes up a couple times, but nothing about food introductions in the ballpark of 6 months. For us, the things that most colored that experience for us were a) the joys of making his food combined with b) his awesome reactions to each new food and c) my own anxiety due to many severe food allergies on both sides of our family which thankfully our son is not burdened by. I think overall, the variety of ways people handle food introductions and modern increase in food allergies warrant some discussion in your book.

Going to read everyone else's suggestions now!!

[Anon]

Adding on to what the first commenter wrote: my chiropractor told me it takes 9 months for relaxin to totally get out of your system after your first baby--so really your musculo-skeletal system is still being held together by loosey-goosey ligaments for that long! No wonder we feel wonky at 4months!!!

[Lucy]

I think that this is such a wonderful idea - both to you writing a book, Moxie, and to this open way of doing it.

I love the idea of including the "What's next?" My kids are now nearly 4 and 6.5, and is it so different.

I also think that this book will be good for me with my friends who have younger children. I don't feel that I am good at remembering the details of the different stages, and I am wondering what the best way to be a good friend is. Honestly, so much of the early years seem so foggy to me! All I can say is, "Yes, it is really, really hard. It gets easier. You are doing a fab job, and my goodness, your teeny baby/hilarious 18 month old is utterly adorable!"

After this, I can say all those things AND waft your book under their nose, and actually feel useful. :-)

[amyLS]

I would like to have this book now! (Mothering a 14 month old and a 4 week old.)

[Dagmar]

The outline looks really good. There is SO MUCH stuff to talk about, and putting it in some sort of useful order is tough. (idea - for the e-edition, can you add hyperlinks within chapters to other relevant chapters or sections?)

If not already planned, include some data or resources for pumping in the 'feeding' or the 3-month section for those nursing moms who are going back to work or WAH parents) - I've found that many moms start to feel inadequate at this point.

It may be out of scope, but what about 'sibling' interaction (for those babies with older sibs OR multiples)?

That's all I got for now. Looks like an amazing resource and I think your next book should be the "F**ing Fours!"

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=9363059]

Awesome.

Maybe some mention in the beginning about how to balance recovering from an emergency c-section while caring for an alien? A section can be bad enough, but an emergency one is so much worse.

[Leah]

I am so excited about this. the appendix with books that won't gaslight you is utterly brilliant.

[Kathleen]

I think it would be more useful to have all the timeline stuff in a row at the beginning. Maybe starting with the We're all in this together, then moving onto the timeline chapters. What I would do to make sure that people went to the appropriate discussion chapters as they need them is to have sidebars that bring up the discussion topics, briefly give some info about the topic (like sleep patterns, for example) and then tells you where to find the discussion chapter (see page XX). This would keep the timeline folks satisfied because they can find the info in a straight line in the first half of the book, but it also brings up issues by age and then points them to the appropriate discussion to help them through it. Remember how sleep deprived and stupid we were...I think readers need a straightforward map with pointers.

Oh, and I would divide the discussion chapters into two groups too...the discussions on how to best deal with taking care of the baby, and discussions on taking care of yourself and your spouse.

And maybe something about multiples? There are so many multiples today and a nod toward the challenges there would help a lot of people. Twin books mostly just talk about the physical things you deal with in pregnancy. I would be happy to give you some coping techniques we used when our twins were born. I'm sure other readers would too.

As well, a chapter on how to cope when you already have one small one and along comes #2. I think there are a lot of issues and fears that people have when they will be dealing with more than one child.

And lastly, a really good index!

[KathyB]

Great! When my daughter was born (31 years ago) I did not buy ONE book (that's right, I didn't read ANYTHING) I just followed my instincts (and doctor's advice when it suited me.) My family couldn't believe that I didn't have a library of books! Your (proposed) book would have been one I could have used though.

[Lisa]

Wow, just wow. We are still trying to conceive so I dearly hope you stick to your timeline and this is ready for purchase before I need it! It looks amazing, and the crowdsourcing idea is brilliant.

[Elizabeth]

I want this book now! Looks great. I'm so glad that you're talking about issues like worry, friendships and relationship/sex because those have all been issues for me I've had a hard time bringing up with people / not knowing if what I'm experiencing is normal, etc. etc. Can't wait, go Moxie!

[marta]

i would love to see stuff in here that acknowledges non-traditional families, though i kind of hate the separate chapter, and would rather see -- as i'm assuming you will do -- examples and acknowledgements just woven through. ditto for adoption. many of the issues are the same, but not all of them.

[Barb @ getupandplay]

I will buy the hell out of this book. Well done, Moxie, I'm proud to "know" you.

[Tara Beard]

I want to buy this book. NOW.

[anonforthisone]

I would like to gently ask that you review your wording on cry it out methods and maybe try to be a little less harsh in the book than you are here on this site? In the main article you have on CIO, you call CIO cruel, which breaks my heart a little bit because I admire and rely on this website in so many other ways. We tried e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g under the sun to get our baby to sleep more than 90 minutes - two hours at night. When he was six and a half months old we did do a variation of a CIO method and two days later he was sleeping 4 - 5 hour chunks in his crib at night. CIO saved my marriage, my sanity, and my job. I understand that you may not ever be a fan of CIO, but when I think of my beloved Ask Moxie thinking that I was cruel to my baby, I get pretty sad. CIO did work for us, as a last resort, where other methods failed.

[electriclady]

I would include either a separate chapter or a section in chapter 2 about co-parenting--how to handle/resolve when you and your partner have different priorities or expectations or philosophies. (Comes up whether you are still in a relationship with your co-parent or not.) And, it doesn't seem quite like co-parenting, nor does it seem to fit in with the "love and sex" chapter as you've outlined it, but what about that phenomenon of (temporarily, for most) totally hating and wanting to divorce your husband after you have a baby (and you think you're the only one who feels that way until you start talking to other people, because in public people just talk about how much closer having a child has brought them)???

[Rose]

I too would buy this book today!

[Vacationland Mom]

I second the add info about introducing solids at 6 months. My son pretty much *refused* all until somewhere around 10-11 months when he started eating way better. It was very stressful for me in particular because I was nursing and working and pumping... and feeling like he was starving during the day was pretty rough. I'm sure it would be impossible to include all the possible medical issues in this book (as causes of sleep problems, etc.) but maybe you could just include the major/most common ones like food allergies, GERD, anemia, etc.

In the worry section I would add GUILT and how to deal with it.

Thank you Moxie, this is gonna be AWESOME. I think everyone is really excited, and it is sooo cool to know that we are all a part of it/in it together!

[julie schumacher]

hi hi-
you are writing the book i said i wanted to write. which is great for you and maybe even better for me since now i don't have to figure out how to do it!

a wonderful resource on self-publishing is this tedtalk by jill salzman, founder of the founding moms. she self-published her first book on mom entrepreneurs and shares what she learned: http://booksbywomen.org/the-challenges-of-self-publishing-and-why-id-do-it-again-by-jill-salzman/

good luck!

[jfox]

One thing about the books that "can do no harm?" Could you also, kindly, please, maybe find a more loosey-goosey way of naming that section? I ask because I am That Person, who told that the WTE books are satan's own invention and must to be avoided, have found that they are the *only* books that actually answer whatever questions that either of us have had. In contrast, I hope that when the violent feminist revolution comes, Dr. Sears will be the first to be taken out and shot. In other words, "can do no harm" is massively subjective.

[PiquantMolly]

It would have really helped me to have you talk through all of the formula vs. breastfeeding/pumping bullshit that was making me an insane person when E was an infant. I had started a ridiciulous "manifesto" on my feelings on the whole situation, the anxiety I felt through 9 months of exclusive pumping, the judgment society seems to throw at you, etc. I know it's a sensitive topic to tiptoe around, but someone caring and supportive saying, "Feed your child in the way that is the most loving and makes the most sense for you and your family; don't kill yourself just because you think that's the way you should be doing it" would have been immensely helpful to hear.

[K]

I think this looks great. If I could make one suggestion is that I wish, if you have a chance, touch on PPD more as a range of post-partum disorders. PPD is important and the most common, but there's also post-partum anxiety, OCD, and PTSD, for example.

I was diagnosed with PTSD due to childbirth several years ago. In the months leading up to my PTSD diagnosis, I was wondering why I wasn't feeling ok, but the self-tests for that most books/websites have didn't match what I was experiencing because the tests were for PPD. I thought I was just being a wimp or something. I think it took me longer to realize that I wasn't just being a wimp and seek help because I didn't know there were other post-partum disorders. I wish I had had access to that possibility sooner.

[marci]

in the non-gaslight section, please include 'preemies' by mia doran. it saved my life.

a word about how you might find yourself changing your mind about your parenting plans based on your actual baby might be nice. i had planned to be pretty crunchy & attachment-y and had a preemie on oxygen with an ileostomy and feeding tube. there went all wearing, nursing, feeding, cloth diapering plans, totally out the window. i really grieved for this, but the baby i had was the baby i had to parent.

this will be a great book, moxie. you are the perfect author for your book. ;)

[linsiwolsie]

I want this book now! Especially CH10! What the hail is going on?

[teachergirl]

i don't have time to read the comments, so it's possible that 953 people have already said this, but please include something about siblings and transitioning to two children. regardless of when it happens, i'm sure it has hallmarks that are the same. i think that's an important element, even if it's just something for parents to consider in those early years. (for me, it's imminent, so...i'd like this book now, please. :) )

[Anon]

Agree with @Anonforthisone. I think if you have a certain kind of child (ie. colic), sometimes you need to resort to more extreme measures to get them to sleep on their own. As well, a gentle suggestion that the TOC seem pretty 'sleep heavy.' Sleep tends to be a divisive topic, it would be nice of Moxie's book could be a uniter, in the spirit of this blog!

[CG]

I second @marci about how your pre-imagined preferred parenting style may not fit your actual baby or family. I had planned on being a pretty AP parent, which was what I had heard was right (ahem, living in Ann Arbor), but turned out to have a baby who needed to be put down quite a bit to be happy. I couldn't breastfeed the first one due to birth complications; we did CIO to save our sanity. We love our sons and have great relationships with them, but we had to pay close attention to what they and we needed, and it didn't follow the expectations we had set in advance. Maybe this is covered in Ch. 2.

Also agree with the organizational structure suggested by @kathleen.

I feel so invested in your book, Moxie, because not only has this site provided me with good advice, it's made me feel like there is this world of kind, smart moms (and dads) out there who generally think like I do (along a spectrum, to be sure) and would wish me well. Sometimes when the going gets tough I imagine you all out there working through the same issues with good will and intelligence and it's a comfort.

[ARC]

1. Love the idea of putting the timeline stuff first.

2. I'll echo the suggestion of what to do wrt a new sibling on the horizon and immediately after the new baby shows up - I love the posts on your site around that topic.

3. One I don't see here (at least not directly), and is what brought me to AskMoxie in the first place - grandparents. How to deal with your parents as an adult, the grandparent role (esp the excellent stuff Hedra talks about), how to maintain your own boundaries when the grandparents want to do their own thing with your kid.

4. Going back to work/finding childcare/pumping logistical type things would be helpful too, but maybe that's a different book?

So excited :)

[the milliner]

I agree that a section on how to manage different parenting approaches/philosophies with the other parent would be very helpful. And perhaps also some strategies for key single parent issues as well (as those particular challenges come up on Ask Moxie pretty regularly too). Unless I missed it, I feel like there needs tone something about teething and all that entails. It's probably my own preoccupation, but I thought the sleep chapter should be more involved. I LOVE that you have a 'your sleep' section. I would also add in something about weaning and making the decision to wean (if, in fact your child has not already made the decision). Agree with the others on the chronology of the book (grouping all of the linear stuff together), a little à la Wonder Weeks. And lastly, I think you mentioned in yesterday's post that you would include differing opinions/experiences on different topics, and I think this is key. For a parenting book to acknowledge that wildly opposing opinions on how to do something could both actually be valid, well, it would be a relevation. The only other parenting book I can think of that does this is Bed Timing. For me, the different points of view on any one subject is a big part of the Moxie experience. You're off to a great start!

[the milliner]

I'm, that would be revelation. :)

[the milliner]

Ack, 'um', not 'I'm'...

[Maria]

I so wish your book was available two years ago, when I was a struggling new parent... Best of luck!!!

[Heather]

I am a library gal. But I can't wait to buy this book.

[Heather]

books for young children in the appendix?

pls consider adding a section on organizing!!! (home, time, balance of who does what now if there is a partner, how to have a rhythm that is not a stranglehold, how to pack the diaper bag the night before, how it is harder to run out to the store, and correspondingly, how to plan ahead for meals, diapers, milk, etc.)

i love the sequence

[Kim]

No suggestions from me but just wanted to say I am so happy to hear that you're writing a book! It was so interesting that publishers want controversy - such a shame for parents. I read so many books as an anxious first time mother and they really did make me feel so much worse until I came across your blog and it literally saved my sanity and was so very helpful. I'll definitely purchase your book for myself and for all my friends and will spread the word around Australia as much as I can. Congrats Moxie!

[Bethany]

I am so excited for this book! Thank you so much for talking about PPD, anger, worry, friends post-baby... all things that don't get brought up enough in the vast majority of books. The only thing I would add is something for dads in the PPD section. My son is 6 months old and as I am still struggling with PPD, my husband has had a really rough time of it but felt like there is little to no support for new dads. Lots of stuff for new moms, but even conversations with friends revolve around how the baby and I are doing rather than how *he* is doing. And if there's one thing I've learned through all this craziness, it's that no matter what the issue is, I am not the only one going through it.

Thank you again - your book is going to be so helpful for so many people.

[hedra]

I'd love to see cultural expectations of motherhood mentioned (unless that will be embedded in the 'different experiences/opinions'), and something on grandparent/in-law boundary setting. Given other comments, maybe a whole chapter on 'family relationships' - which could include spouse/co-parenting, sibling-in-law attitude, mother's mom controls and boundaries, dealing with unsafe relatives, in-law boundary setting, how to keep relationships healthy when you are parenting differently than your parents did or siblings do (finding common ground, etc.).

Ditto on the dads and PPD.

In non-gaslight, include Mothering Multiples for multiples parents. (Not sure if you want to even mention multiples strategies in the book?)

Also, for the 'safe/respectful/kind', let me know if you need any kind of signed paperwork on that (used with permission stuff). I know with publishing houses you have to cover all those bases, not sure on self-pub. Glad you're including that, since the manuscript I started on that is ... er, gathering electronic dust in my computer. I can't picture me picking it back up again for another five years at least. (Feel free to quote from my blog on that, if you want, too. Not sure what your format/style will be, in terms of quotes or restating...)

[Heather]

You really did me a world of good when you posted my question about not being delighted with being pregnant. Especially because I saw so much ambivalence about it from others. I think that it could use mentioning that the emotions around being pregnant don't automatically mirror those about being a mom.

I don't think I ever told you, but my whole pregnancy was a total mental misery (physically it was great) but about 18 HOURS after ShortStack was born I went back to being myself, no PPD, no misery.

[Heather]

Hedra certainly has been a huge contributor but I also would like to give you kind a blanket approval to use anything I've put on this site if it will help.

[Kate]

Dude, as long as you include sleep by any means necessary and info about half year disequilibrium this book will be golden. Both ideas were game changers for me (says the woman who is currently dealing with sudden excessive clinginess of a suddenly four and a half year old).

Oh, I hadn't even thought of it - but I do like the idea in other comments of briefly touching on the fact that if you had an emergency type birth to look out for PSTD. It wouldn't have to be huge, but it could be hugely helpful to someone who doesn't even know that's a possibility.

[nej]

Might have missed this if someone already posted, but maybe mention something about it changing your relationship with your parents and how some parents may see your choices as rebuffing theirs, etc.

Also, can you please please please put at least one line in there about how if these things aren't working and your baby seems extra awful, that there might be some underlying medical cause? And to trust your instinct. Oh, and when choosing a pediatrician, especially as a first-time parent, you might want to pick one that has children of their own...you know, so that they don't say something like, "well, maybe your six month old is trying to drop his naps and you might just want to go with it."

[Mel]

This looks like a fabulous book! I'm sure you'll mention it, but the advice I find myself telling new moms over and over is "TRUST YOURSELF. YOU are the expert on your baby." There are SO many parenting books out there. They all contradict and so many people feel like if they don't do things exactly like the book says then nothing will work. This lines up with previous comments about parenting shifts to fit the child you have. There are lots of things I changed from my imagined view of parenting. There are things I also changed when I got a second kid with a completely different personality! Things that worked with the first no longer worked. So I had to trust myself. I wish more parents felt empowered to trust themselves.
I totally agree on the whole body - I'm still fat- section someone else mentioned including. I'm pregnant with number 3. The thing I cried the most about when I found out was the thought that breastfeeding (which I plan to do again) will mean another year of choosing clothes that have boob access. Those clothes are rarely cute. Sigh. Clothing was always the most depressing thing for me with my kids. You don't want to spend a fortune on a wardrobe you only wear for a few months, but the clothes you have suck or don't work. And somehow every other mom looks put together.
Introducing new foods was the other area I hated. I felt there was nothing my kids could eat (more i was just bored) And there's that awkward stage between much and real food where you have to find things they can actually chew. Blah! And I had a premie with an aversion to things going in her mouth (the spoon) and I was beside myself trying to figure out why she wouldn't eat.

[ACJ]

May The Muse be with you all summer on this ambitious timeline! You are the woman to do this, maybe even The Best Parent For Your (book) Baby?

So maybe this is mean when you're this far in, in which case please disregard. But I wonder if your content is more suited to a topical TOC as opposed to a Timeline as you have it now? With the chapters having their own internal timeline? So as an example, Sleep: Killing You Softly for At Least Fifteen Months; 1 - 6wks; 6wks - 4.5m; 5m - 9m; etc. It's how my own brain works, so surely it'd work for the whole rest of the world?

And just in case you don't know any people crazy about punctuation and sentence structure, please add me to your list of potential beta readers.

Can't, can't wait... and cheering you on from this corner of Canada.